ACER Director, Alberto Pototschnig, and the President of the National Regulatory Agency of Montenegro (RAE), Branislav Prelević, signed today an Administrative Arrangement which will allow experts from RAE to join the Agency’s Electricity Working Group and Gas Working Group as of January 2018. The working groups, composed of representatives of ACER, national regulators and the European Commission, provide input to the Director for the preparation of opinions, recommendations and decisions and provide information to the Agency’s Board of Regulators on the issues relevant to the Director’s proposals.
Participation in ACER’s working groups is in general limited to EU regulatory authorities, however admission of third country’s regulators is possible when the country has made satisfactory progress towards adopting and applying EU law in the field of energy, as well as the measures ensuring the effective independence of its NRA. The Agency was supported in the assessment of the implementation of the EU energy acquis in Montenegro by the Energy Community Secretariat.
On the occasion of the signature of the Administrative Agreement, Director Pototschnig stated: “I am very pleased that RAE joins the Agency’s working groups as the first national regulator from the Energy Community Contracting Parties.”
Janez Kopač, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, said that “today's event represent the essence of the Energy Community, which is dedicated to bringing together EU and its neighbours which are part of the same internal market. They cannot be really part of the same family if they are not part of the same institutions. Montenegro is the most advanced Energy Community country, without a single infringement procedure and am sure will be a most reliable partner”.
President Prelević thanked the support of the Energy Community and its Secretariat and stressed that “RAE feels honoured with this observer chair at ACER”. “We will try to continue developing our institutional capacities further – he added - and will also try to give back through active participation in ACER working groups, as we have done so during the last several years within the ECRB working groups”.
Find more about ACER working groups here.